Who We Are
by Maria Cella
Summary: Lenne doesn't show up after Vegnagun was destroyed and Shuyin is still around, trying to destroy Spira. The gang has finally found Lenne but not the way they expected. Rating has gone up. Some romance.
1. Prologue

Summary: Basically, what if Lenne had not shown up after Vegnagun was destroyed? Shuyin would keep coming back and probably try to destroy Spira in some other way. So, the gang must find Lenne in time to stop Shuyin, but where o where can she be? **Warning:** There are **SPOILERS** for any who have not finished FFX2

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyright to this game, or any other as a matter of fact.

**Chapter 1: **(After Vegnagun was destroyed)

"You are not Lenne!" Shuyin cried in anger. Then he ran toward them.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Rikku complained.

"It's no use, he's not listening," Paine declared.

"Shuyin, please, stop this," Yuna pleaded.

Yuna heard what sounded like Auron's voice again, "Be strong, Yuna."

It was hard for her to fight him, but she must, despite his looks. He even fought a little like Tidus. But she realized again that Shuyin was nothing like Tidus as he cried, "A thousand years of agony," and attacked them again.

When they had finally fought him to a stand still Rikku said, "Yunie…"

At the same time Yuna murmured, "Shuyin." Then again. "Shuyin…"

"Don't try to tell me you understand," he replied.

(A/N: this is where Lenne would have shown up.)

Shuyin disappeared in a cloud of pyreflies. "Thank goodness that's the last we'll ever see of him," Yuna said, relieved.

"Actually, it's not," said a voice from behind them. The three girls whirled around to find the fayth from Bevelle in front of them. "As long as Shuyin is still searching for Lenne," the fayth continued, "he will keep coming back. He is still tied to this world."

"You mean all this was for nothing?" Yuna asked.

"No, of course not. You did destroy Vegnagun, and you saved your friend Baralai, but you must find Lenne to finally get rid of Shuyin once and for all.

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Rikku asked.

"We will find her, but you must get her and bring her here. Just give us a little time.

"Fine," said Rikku, "but can we get outta here, this place gives me the creeps."

"I'll inform you when we've found Lenne," he said, and disappeared.

As the group reached the Farplane Abyss, Yuna heard 2 whistles again. The fayth reappeared. "Thanks," he told Yuna.

"You're very welcome."

"You heard it, didn't you? You want to see him?"

"Him?" Yuna asked, surprised.

"Yes. You want to walk together again?"

"Yes!" she answered.

"I can't promise anything, but we'll do what we can," he said as he faded.

Yuna caught up to the group just as they emerged into the Bevelle Underground. LeBlanc fluttered about Nooj, who looked annoyed. Paine looked like she couldn't decide whether to go to Nooj or Baralai, who walked a little apart from the others. Rikku was supporting Gippal, and Ormi and Logos brought up the rear.

Everyone in the temple was so relieved to see Baralai that no one stopped the ragged group on the way to his room.

The Gullwings told the rest what the fayth had said about Shuyin. Nooj, Gippal, and LeBlanc had been nearby but hadn't heard it all, and Baralai hadn't really been fully alert. Needless to say, they did not look thrilled.

Suddenly a nun rushed in. Seeing Baralai she cried, "Oh it istrue! Praetor, you've returned. Thank Yevon!" And just as quickly she rushed out.

The group looked at each other and laughed. "Looks like New Yevon has really fallen apart without you, man," said Gippal. "I'm glad I trained the Machine Faction to look out for themselves."

"Oh they did get into a _spot_ of trouble, but we helped them out," laughed Rikku. "Now they're doing okay, even if they are heading in a somewhat different direction then before.

"Besides, they weren't near as bad as the Youth League or New Yevon," commented Paine.

"At least Lucil was there to keep the Youth League in line. New Yevon was really panicking until Isaaru showed up. But we managed to keep everybody from killing each other," said Yuna.

"Sounds like we missed a lot. We should probably get back to our respective posts," Nooj declared.

"No," said Baralai. "We need to reassure our people that everything is going to be all right. Even if Shuyin might return, they don't need to know that. At least Vegnagun is gone."

"What, you mean like a speech?" asked Gippal.

"Yeah, but where should we have it? We need somewhere neutral so we don't offend anybody."

"How about Luca?" suggested Rikku. "Then afterward we can PARTY!"

"I could dig that," Gippal said. "What are we waiting for, let's go. B, you up for it?" he asked Baralai.

"You bet! The sooner we do this, the sooner we can start working towards Spira's future." Gippal and Rikku rolled their eyes.

On the way to Luca they dropped LeBlanc, Ormi, and Logos off at Guadosalam, which made Nooj look a lot happier, thought that may have been because of the major makeout session he got as a goodbye. Brother stopped at one of the docks to let the guys off in Luca.

"Thanks for everything," Nooj told YRP as they turned to leave.

"Aren't you coming with us?" asked Baralai.

"It's time for me to go home," said Yuna.

"Who's that on the beach?" Rikku asked, pointing at the tiny figure, just visible on Besaid.

"I don't know," Paine replied. "And where has Yuna disappeared to?"

Just as they were setting down by the island, Rikku and Paine saw Yuna running down the gangplank to leap to the ground before they had even landed. She ran through the water to leap into the arms of the strange figure.

A/N: There isn't too much going on here but I needed to set up the story. I tried to follow the script most of the time except for where it didn't fit in with this story. This is based on either the good or perfect ending for Tidus; it doesn't really matter which. R & R, please. It would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Found

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been on vacation for a week. I missed my computer. I'd just like to thank moogle for my first ever review, and so far my only one. Any _constructive _criticism or comments are still welcome.

Chapter 2:

In the weeks after the destruction of Vegnagun, the different factions were busy trying to restore order after the recent chaos. When they had finally regained at least a semblance of control they realized they needed to do something to prevent the same mistakes from happening over and over again. They decided to meet in Luca. Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal were there as the head honchos; the Gullwings, now including Tidus, were there too because of their "recent involvement and service to Spira." Cid and Rin were also present, Cid to represent the rest of the Al Bhed and Rin to represent the merchants and businesses. Kimahri and Tromell Guado were there for their races.

Rin now lived in Luca and had volunteered his office to hold the meeting since there were no government buildings. Since the Eternal Calm had started and Yevon's hypocrisy was revealed, Spirans had been wary of giving anybody that kind of absolute power. Now they realized they needed something a little more unified than all the separate factions doing their own thing.

The delegates were able to decide on each village or settlement having one self-determined representative before the meeting degenerated into a shouting match. Finally the delegates' throats had enough for the day and the assembly broke up, with very little decided. Messengers were sent to all the towns to inform them of the decisions made.

One of the last issues discussed was a growing fiend problem. The decision was made to start up patrols and to ask the Machine Faction for more sentries, but after the meeting, Nooj, Baralai, Gippal, and the Gullwings stayed behind to talk about it more.

"What, you want the Surging, Flapping, Neighboring Gullwings to take care of the fiends?" asked Brother.

"No," said Nooj, "We think this is more than a coincidence."

"You mean Shuyin," Yuna said, as a statement, not a question. Tidus, who had been told about the whole Vegnagun incident but not that Shuyin would return, looked confused.

Baralai nodded and was about to respond when Shinra interjected, "We think he is drawing pyreflies to himself, and the high concentration of pyreflies is causing the unusual fiend activity."

"Huh?" asked Rikku.

"Look, fiends are made of pyreflies, right, so where there are more pyreflies there will be more fiends, and more powerful ones," he explained.

"Yeah, we know that, but _how_ is he doing this?" Paine questioned him.

"He's using large scale gravity spells, like he did with the aeons, to draw them in."

"That's not good," Rikku whined.

"Why bother, though, it's not like he can destroy all Spira with fiends, no matter how many or how strong they are," Gippal pointed out.

"I'm not entirely sure his intention is to produce fiends," Shinra replied.

"Then what is his intention?" Yuna asked.

"I'm just a kid." (Thanks a lot, Shinra, good work. Give yourself a pat on the back.)

"Hey! How come Nooj and Baralai knew about this before we did, huh? Rikku complained, "We're the ones who live with you."

"Shinra called us about it," Baralai answered.

"I was testing the upgrades to my commspheres," was Shinra's only answer. He didn't want to tell them it was because he thought Nooj or Baralai might have some inkling as to what Shuyin was doing since he had possessed them, they hadn't been a big help, though.

"We still can't do anything until the fayth finds Lenne," Baralai reminded them.

"Yeah, hey fayth dude, that's your cue," said Gippal to the ceiling, but nothing happened.

"Sure, Gippal, like that's going to work," laughed Rikku. "I just hope it doesn't take the fayth as long this time as it did last time we asked them to find somebody," she continued, then realized what she had said and looked guiltily over where Yuna and Tidus _had_ been standing, but they had left the room.

"Yuna, why did you keep this from me?" Tidus asked, hurt. They were standing in an alcove off the hallway. "Why'd you hide it?"

"I… It's just, I didn't want to think about it. We were having such a good time, and I wanted to believe it would last. Why do I keep deluding myself like this? It will never end, there's always just going to be another crisis right after we solve the last one. Normal people don't have to live like this, why should we?" she cried.

He stood there for a second and then gathered her into his arms. She sobbed quietly into his shoulder as he tried to comfort her. "Yuna, that's who you are. Even when I first met you I could tell you were somebody who couldn't stand to see anybody else in trouble, you would do everything you could to help. And I'm not just talking about Sin. You were going to sacrifice your life for people you didn't know and that wasn't even enough for you. If you weren't like that you wouldn't be yourself. I can tell you've changed a lot in the last two years, but that part of you is still the same and will always be with you. It's part of who I fell in love with," he said soothingly. "I admit it does have its downside sometimes when it seems like we're going to die, but you wouldn't be Yuna if you didn't care so much."

She looked up at him, still within the circle of his arms. "You mean that?" she whispered.

"With all my heart," he assured her. She was still gazing up at him with her dazzlingly blue and green eyes. He bent his head down to kiss her full lips, while at the same time she raised herself on tiptoe to reach his.

A little while they detached themselves. Looking over Yuna's shoulder, Tidus jumped. "Whoa, I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted. Yuna whirled in surprise, to see the fayth standing there. She blushed, wondering how long he'd been watching them.

"It's okay, Tidus, he's not here for you." Tidus visibly relaxed.

"Man, you gotta not sneek up on people like that," he told the figure.

"Do you want to talk with the others," she asked him.

The fayth nodded, "That would be best." As they made their way back to the conference room he commented, "I'm glad to see you're happy with your decision."

Yuna, realizing he was talking about Tidus, blushed, but smiled. She pushed the doors open and the others immediately looked at them. After they'd seen the boy, all talking in the room ceased.

Yuna, Tidus, and the fayth walked forward. The fayth addressed them simply. "We've found her."

A/N: wow that was fun. And I do think Tidus saying with all my heart is a little cliché but I just wanted to finish this chapter. I've gotten one review, now my goal is two more. Help me reach it, I would not mind going over. (Hint hint, a nod's as good as a wink, nudge nudge. Say no more!)


	3. A Bad Deal

A/N: Wow, thanks you guys. We reached my goal and passed it! And there was great rejoicing…

You may think I'm overreacting, but anyone who has gotten a review realizes how insanely happy something so small can make you. It can really brighten up a bad day. So thanks again!

Lesca: Thanks for the tip. Looking back at it I notice what you pointed out. Sometimes since you as the author know what is going on you forget that others do not and don't clarify something enough. Sooner or later I'll fix that.

Moogle: Thanks for reviewing me twice. There will probably be more romance later.

Milkie: Thanks also. And the vacation was fine.

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_And finally…_

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Chapter 3: (The Gullwings, Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal are still in Rin's office, Luca)

We've found her," Bahamut's fayth repeated after seeing the stunned looks of those in the room.

Nooj was the first to recover. "Great! Where is she?"

For the first time the fayth seemed at a loss for words. "Well, there is a _slight_ problem."

Gippal groaned, "And what is that, pray tell?"

"The girl is not of this world."

"What? How could Lenne have gone to a different world?" asked Rikku.

"It is not the same person. After all, Lenne died a thousand years ago."

"Yeah, but so did Shuyin, and he's still around," Rikku replied.

"It is not the true Shuyin, merely a memory of his hate and anger preserved in pyreflies. His emotions were so strong that a part of him lived on, but the thing he has become in death is nothing like who he was in life."

"So then who is this person you've found?" Yuna asked.

"Well, to call her a reincarnation of Lenne would not be far from the truth. Or you could say she is what Lenne would have become if Lenne had been born in that specific place and time."

"Okay, but how are we to get to her?" commented Paine, always the practical one.

"We can transport probably two of you to her world, but anymore than that would be too difficult." He did not add 'I think,' even though he was uncertain of his and the other fayths' ability to send anybody to another world. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them, right?

Besides this was necessary. He knew Shuyin was capable of much more than what he had already shown. When Shuyin had pulled him and the other fayths into the Farplane he had lost all control of himself. As he had told Yuna, they had been no better than fiends. And he never wanted to feel that way again. He would do whatever he could to prevent it from happening again. He continued, "Anyways, you should decide who will go by tonight so we can get this over with."

"We'll be ready," Yuna said, with more enthusiasm than she felt.

"And by the way," added the fayth, " this girl will have no idea who Lenne or Shuyin were, or any recollection of that life." He then quickly vanished.

"Why do I feel that we got the hard part of this bargain? Asked Paine, sarcastically. No one answered her.

Baralai finally broke the silence. "Before we decide who will go, may I suggest we move this discussion. Sooner or later Rin will send somebody to kick us out of his office."

"Yes, let's take this to the Celsius," Buddy agreed. The group filed out of the room, down the hallway, and past Rin's secretary, who ignored them pointedly.

On their way to the Luca docks, where the Celsius was, Tidus pulled Rikku aside. "I don't care who goes tonight, as long as Yuna isn't one of them. She's been under a lot of stress lately, worrying about this whole mess and how to tell me about it, among other things. She's exhausted and needs to rest, someone else can take this one."

"Sure, Tidus," Rikku answered. "I'll tell the others. You two can just take it easy tonight."

"Thanks, Ri," he said, and ran to catch up with Yuna.

When they arrived at the Celsius Yuna made to join the others on the bridge but Tidus pulled her to their room. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "The others can take care of it." She almost argued but then looked at his face and changed her mind.

The others were not so fortunate. Another argument quickly commenced over who would go that night. Finally Paine had had enough. "SHUT UP!" she shouted. "You guys, haven't you had enough fighting for today after that stupid meeting. This is really unnecessary. All we need to decide is what we plan on doing tonight."

"What do you mean, Dr. P?" asked Gippal.

"Look, we can either try to convince this person to come with us on her own, in which case we'll need someone who's pretty persuasive, or we can just carry her off, in which case we'll need someone who doesn't mind doing that and is physically able to do so."

"Whoa, we're going to kidnap this person?" Rikku demanded.

"Well what did you expect. That we were going to walk up to somebody and say 'hey, we're from a different world and we need you to stop this madman who was kind of your lover but you don't remember, so please come with us?' Honestly Rikku, I thought you were smarter than that. This might cost you some respect points," Paine warned her.

"Wow, you're still using that 'respect point' thing. Don't worry about it, Rikku, she used to threaten me with that all the time, and look how great I turned out," Gippal laughed.

"I rest my case," stated Paine, dryly. "Can we get back to the point? Who is willing to go and kidnap this girl?"

"Count me out," declared Rikku.

"I don't think I'd be much use with my cane," said Nooj.

"I'll go," said Baralai, mostly because he had been feeling guilty over what his body had done while Shuyin had possessed him.

"That leaves me or you, Dr. P," said Gippal.

"You can go Gippal," she offered.

"Ah, thanks a lot."

The Celsius left Luca but everybody stayed on board, mostly because they wanted to see what the Lenne-girl was like. Gippal and Baralai decided to use the beds above the cabin to rest before they traveled between worlds. Nooj stayed in the cabin, and the others went to their own rooms. Gippal fell asleep rather quickly, but Baralai was still dwelling on whether what they were going to do was okay. After all, this girl had a life in her own world she would be torn away from. She must have people who cared about her and who would miss her. He knew they had to get rid of Shuyin but still he couldn't stop thinking it over.

He must have fallen asleep eventually because he was woken up by Gippal. They made their way to the bridge, where the fayth was talking with the others. Seeing them he asked, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Gippal replied, while Baralai just nodded.

"When you're ready to return, just call for me. Here we go…"

As the last words left the fayth's mouth, the room faded around Baralai and Gippal until they were surrounded by a brilliant white light. Suddenly the white was cut off to be replaced by a black void.

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A/N: In the game the Celsius didn't have separate rooms for everybody, but now it does, artistic license is a wonderful thing. Please R & R, I'm hoping for a total of at least 9 reviews.


	4. Kidnappers

A/N: Yes, I am going to introduce a character from our world, just as many others have. (Aah, not again!) Sorry if you were expecting something else. In this story our world will have no game about Spira, so the character will know nothing about it. And just in case you didn't know, the fact that I don't own FFX2 will continue to be true throughout the whole fic.****

Chapter 4:

Seeing the black emptiness around him, Baralai had the sickening feeling that somehow the fayth had made a mistake and they were trapped in this nothingness. He swung his arms in panic, hoping to make contact with anything to reassure himself he was not dead, or worse. His flailing succeeded as he whacked Gippal across the face. He had never been so relieved in his life, despite the fact that Gippal yelled, "Ow, you cdibet ycc! What was that for?"

"Heh, heh…I was just, uh…" Now that he was thinking again he realized he was standing on a hard surface, not floating in space as he had expected.

"Would you stop messing around and give us a light?" Gippal did not sound happy. He probably just wanted to get this over with so they could leave, though getting smacked by his friend hadn't helped his mood. Baralai whispered a small fire spell, not too much help in a fight but much handier than matches. Strangely, the light showed a narrow room with clothes hanging on hooks around the sides. It looked like a closet. Nobody was in sight, would they have to look for this girl? He just hoped they would be able to recognize her as he realized neither he nor Gippal had ever seen Lenne before.

They made their way to the door, Baralai tiptoeing and Gippal trying to, but failing miserably in his heavy boots. Baralai slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open carefully, hoping it wouldn't squeak. Luckily it did not. He saw a medium size room with a bed. He closed the door and turned to Gippal. "There's someone sleeping in there," he whispered.

"Is it her?" Gippal whispered back

"How should I know?"

"Well is there anyone else?"

"If there was I would have said so!"

"Sorry, man. I'm just a little nervous," Gippal admitted.

"Just calm down, we can do this. I mean, how hard can it be to kidnap somebody? Okay, so what do we do next?"

"If it's her we should go out there and grab her."

"What if it's not her?"

"Why would the fayth send us to anybody else?"

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"I hope I am."

"What do we do after we've grabbed her?"

"We ask the fayth to bring us back."

"Hey Gippal, what's the fayth's name."

"I don't know."

"How are we supposed to call him then?"

"I guess we just call him fayth, or something…"

"I really hope we don't screw this up."

"Let's just do this before we think of any more problems."

"Agreed, you take the right side of the bed and I'll take the left." Before Gippal could say anything else Baralai grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Someone's fist connected with the left side of his face. "Ow," he said, surprised. The girl had woken up. Gippal pushed past him and grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back. She opened her mouth to scream, but Baralai put his hand over her mouth. "Ow," he cried again, as she bit him. He kept his hand in place, though, cupping it so she could not repeat that trick.

She continued to writhe in their grip, letting out muffled screaming noises. Gippal was the first one to regain his wits enough to call for the fayth. This time Baralai was relieved as the white light shone around them and the girl went limp in shock.

The bridge of the Celsius slowly came into focus around them. Baralai saw the concerned faces of his friends in a circle around them. The girl looked around wildly, her eyes opening wide at the sight. Without warning she collapsed. Gippal was still holding her and was able to catch her body before it hit the floor. Baralai felt like doing the same but decided he wanted to land on a bed.

He could see the fayth in the background, fading now that his job was over. Paine and Nooj took the Lenne-girl from Gippal and carried her to Paine's room. He and Gippal began to shuffle towards the cabin. He managed to reach the bed before his legs gave out, but it was a near thing.

(Earlier that night)

Danielle was tired, but for some reason she could not fall asleep. She turned out the lights anyway, hoping it might help her sleep. Just as she was dozing off, she thought she heard a door open. She turned to look at her closet door but it was closed. Normally she would think nothing of it but she could hear a soft murmuring from the room. Had she left something on in there? She stared at the door for a moment, trying to decide if she was just hearing things, but the sound was getting louder. She might as well check, since she didn't think she could sleep now. She got out of bed and made her way across the bedroom.

Just as she was reaching for the knob the door opened. Surprised, she reflexively swung at the emerging thing. She heard a voice say, "Ow," before the door was pushed open all the way and someone grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back as she was held against the person. She had always been told her screams could break glass, now she would prove it to these people. But as she inhaled a hand covered her mouth. She bit down hard in anger and heard another "ow," but the hand just cupped over her mouth. She let the man behind her support her weight so she could kick him, but he didn't relax his grip. Instead he started calling, "faith, faith!" or something like that.

The room disappeared around her. _Did those attackers use chloroform? Am I losing conscious? Wait, isn't your vision supposed to turn black when you lose consciousness, I can only see white. Maybe all those movies and things have got it wrong. This really feels weird, not at all like I expected._ Now she could see a room coming into focus. _Am I waking up? Wow, that was really short, maybe they didn't use a lot of chloroform. Or maybe it just felt like a short time to me._

When she could see the whole room she found herself in a circle of people, still being held by the first two. She looked around, trying to find out where she was, but it was very strange. _Maybe now is a good time for that sleep I wanted. _As the room disappeared yet again her last thought was, _this time my unconscious is black._

A/N: I don't know why this chapter took me so long, but sorry for wait. I probably won't be updating as frequently anymore because of school, but I'll try. Thanks to moogle for continuing to review. Please R & R everybody.


	5. A Different Perspective

A/N: Hey again, if you're still reading this I salute you, especially moogle, who is so cool as to have reviewed every single one of my chapters. Thanks also to Paine-171229. I'm also fluent, it comes in handy sometimes not having to go to a translator or something.

This is mostly what the others were doing while waiting for the Lenne-girl, who will wake up in this chapter.

And yes, the rating has gone up… So if you don't want to read "explicit" material, don't. (It's in the 2nd paragraph.) It's really not bad, it's just not for children.

Chapter 5: _(The same night)_

Yuna decided she was glad Tidus had persuaded her not to join the discussion growing louder on the bridge at that very moment, but then her mind focused on other things, like Tidus' lips on hers, or both of their wandering hands. She just had time to kick the door shut behind her before she lost all reason. She pushed Tidus back towards the bed, a little too forcefully as he fell onto the mattress, with her landing on top of him. But neither of them showed any signs of registering the fall, or slowing down.

When Tidus had first been returned to her their lovemaking had been almost desperate, as if they were both trying to get everything they could while they could, in the fear he would disappear again. As the weeks went by and Tidus remained, their sex became more gentle, though no less passionate. To Tidus' surprise, Yuna had been much more aggressive sexually than he would have thought her to be two years ago, but he definitely liked this side of her. They continued to kiss and caress each other, breaking the contact only enough to remove the other's clothing. When they were both ready Tidus slid into Yuna. He waited a moment, enjoying the feeling, before moving in and out at a maddeningly slow pace. Yuna moaned, urging him to go harder and deeper. He brought her to the brink, and she… fell, taking him with her over the edge.

He pulled out of her and they laid in each other's arms for a while, not saying anything, just enjoying the intimacy between them. But then Tidus' stomach rumbled, loudly, spoiling the moment. Yuna laughed and said, "I guess we'd better get something to eat. I think it's safe to go out there now, all the shouting has stopped." They got dressed and made their way to the cabin.

Rikku was there, eating and talking to Barkeep. She looked unhappy about something. "Where is everybody?" Yuna asked her as Barkeep got them some food.

"Oh, Gippal and Baralai are sleeping 'cause they're the ones going tonight, Paine and Nooj are watching Spherevision," she looked over at the couch but it was unoccupied. "Well they were right there just a minute ago. And the others are on the bridge still." She sighed loudly.

"What's the matter?" Yuna prompted.

"I just feel bad about what we're doing. Did you know that we're going to kidnap the Lenne-girl?"

"I didn't think about it really."

"Well we are, and it just feels wrong."

"Look Rikku, I can see this is bothering you, but we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't important. Even so, if the fayth can bring her here he can probably send her back again. Besides, Tidus didn't want to be in Spira at first and now look at him."

Rikku looked over at Tidus, stuffing food in his mouth, and couldn't help but laugh. Man, that boy could eat.

Time seemed to pass slowly for those on board the Celsius, as they all waited for nightfall. The sun seemed to sit on the horizon for the longest time before finally sinking out of view. Rikku went to wake Gippal and Baralai, but Baralai wouldn't wake up. Gippal was eating dinner when the fayth arrived. He shook Baralai awake and they both went to the bridge. Everyone gathered round to see them off. Seeing them fade hit a little too close to home for Yuna, but she reassured herself by clutching Tidus' hand.

When they were gone Paine asked the fayth how long this would take. "Be quiet," he ordered, "I must concentrate to hear their call." No one spoke after that, fearing to disrupt the boy, and the silence grew awkward. About five minutes later, though, the fayth raised his arms. "They are returning."

The men came into focus, with a body between them. Gippal was holding her and Baralai was covering her mouth. Seeing them he quickly dropped his hand. Unconsciously all the occupants of the room leaned in to get a better view of the girl. Needless to say she looked frightened. Her head turned this way and that, trying to take in her surroundings. It was all too overwhelming and she fell to the floor, Gippal just barely catching her, though both he and Baralai looked on the verge of collapse. Paine and Nooj took charge of the girl, carrying her to Paine's room. Gippal and Baralai went to the cabin for their much-needed rest. None of the others felt like talking so the whole ship went to sleep.

They all woke up early, hoping their new guest would be awake too, but she and her kidnappers were still sleeping. Barkeep had made breakfast so they all sat around the table in silence, picking at their food and waiting anxiously for the girl to wake. Gippal and Baralai stumbled down the stairs halfway through the meal and Barkeep brought them each a plate, which they devoured. Suddenly the door to Paine's room opened (A/N: all the personal rooms open onto the cabin).

When Danielle woke up she found herself in a small room on a bed. As she sat up the room felt like it was moving, perhaps the chloroform was still messing with her head. She sat still for a second, but the room continued to move. She put her feet slowly to the floor and stood up. Seeing a curtain she walked over to it and pulled it open. To her surprise the view showed clouds and sky, nothing else. It seemed like she was on some kind of plane, but from what she could see out the window the shape seemed off somehow. No one had entered the room in the short time she'd been awake and she wondered what her kidnappers were going to do with her. There was a door and she decided to try it, since there was nothing else to do, but she didn't expect it to open. Surprise, it did. She stepped through into a brightly-lit room, with a group of people seated around a table eating. They all turned to look at her. Two she thought were the men in her room, the others were probably the ones she had seen right before she fainted.

One of the women stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Yuna," she said cheerfully.

A/N: okay, I've decided to end this chapter here, because if I continue I'll have to make it really long to get to another stopping point. Just wondering, have you ever heard the song Deep by the Moody Blues? It's a very strange song. I think I first heard it when I was 12, and realized right away it was about sex, but it's just very strange. I was listening to that cd when I wrote this, so that's probably why I put in that little sex scene. Sorry if it offends you, I hope it doesn't. Another question, do you think it would be weirder to go to a different world you knew about through a book or a game (i.e. Spira) or one you've never heard of? I was debating whether Danielle should know about Spira or not but decided she wouldn't. R&R please, and answer that question while you're at it.


	6. Denial

A/N: Wow, I mentioned the pairings in the summary and people took it for more than I meant them to. It was only there for the people who complain when you leave someone unpaired. The focus of the story will be on Baralai and I-wonder-who. The others will mostly be little insinuations; I wasn't even planning on putting so much Tidus/Yuna but it sneaked itself in.

To everybody: Thanks for all the reviews. I am very grateful.

And to moogle: Whoa, sorry if I offended you. Please do continue, I always appreciate your comments.

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Chapter 6:

Danielle's brain didn't seem to be working to well, she barely registered Yuna's greeting. Seeing the confused look on Danielle's face, Yuna continued introducing everybody to her, "Let's see, that's Shinra, Buddy, Brother, Rikku, Gippal, Baralai, Nooj, Paine, and Tidus, oh and Barkeep's in the kitchen."

"Um… hello?" When you were expecting harsh treatment and instead got this, it could kind of unbalance you. The names had gone right through her head without a backward glance. The group was still smiling at her, waiting for something. "I'm… uh… Danielle," she added.

"Nice to meet you, Danielle," Yuna said, holding out her hand. Danielle took it and allowed Yuna to shake it vigorously.

"Is Mish Danielle hungry?" asked a strange voice as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and screamed. A short bluish thing was standing in front of her. What the hell was that thing? "Is the Mish alright?" She looked around, nobody else seemed surprised to see it, just surprised by her scream. Now that she thought about it, it kind of reminded her of something out of Star Wars or Star Trek.

"Food would be great," she finally replied. She could handle the little blue man if she just didn't think about it. Yuna slid over so Danielle could sit at the table. The others were still staring at her, so she asked the question that was floating through her head persistently, "Where the hell am I?"

The people had a quick silent discussion and apparently elected Yuna to answer her. "Well," said Yuna, trying to think on the fly, "this is Spira. We're … um… kind of in a different world, or universe, from your home. And this airship is the Celsius."

Danielle decided that was another thing it was best not to dwell on. Barkeep brought her a plate of food and she thanked him. She knew the logical follow-up to her question would be who were these people, or how did she get here, but she really didn't want to know the answer, so instead she dug her fork into the food and chewed the eggs thoughtfully. They tasted a bit strange, though not bad. She was concentrating so hard on her food she didn't notice the glances the others were sharing over her head. They were all surprised at her lack of curiosity or even concern for her situation.

When she was finished the blonde girl (Rikku?) stood up, "Here, Danielle, I'll show you the bathroom, and I'll try to find some clothes for you." Danielle looked down, just now noticing she was still in her pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt.

"Sure, that would be great," she replied and followed Rikku out of the room.

As soon as she left the room the others let their breath out, not even noticing they'd been holding it. "Wow, that was strange," Tidus commented. "You would think she'd ask more questions than that."

"I think she's in shock," Paine pointed out. "You know, she's trying to keep herself detached from this whole thing. Once she finally realizes what has happened she'll probably freak.

"Well we're going to have to find a way to explain something to her, despite what a great job Yuna just did," Gippal said sarcastically.

Rikku returned to the room and informed them the only thing she found out was that Danielle was 17.

The nice blonde girl, Rikku, had led her to the bathroom and left some clothes for her to change into. Danielle stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, then reached for the pile of clothing. As she picked one of the items up she realized there was not much material there, but she just shrugged and put on the bikini top, thong, and tiny skirt, similar to what Rikku herself was wearing. She walked back into the common room and everybody turned to stare at her. This could get really annoying if they did this every time she entered a room.

They must have planned out what they were going to say because they all took turns telling the story of two lovers, Shuyin and Lenne, caught in a "machina" (whatever that was) war a thousand years ago, and of their death. They then went on to tell her how Lenne had disappeared but Shuyin's spirit had remained, to plague Spira with something called Vegnagun. They explained the recent fiasco with Shuyin's spirit possessing people to try to use Vegnagun and how he had been stopped, but not destroyed.

Up till this point she had been listening with an air of skepticism, and some confusion, but now she became very doubtful of their story when they tried to explain how she was Lenne, and the only one who could stop Shuyin. She decided these people were crazy, their whole story made no sense. Of course, previously she thought inter-world travel was impossible, and obviously this was not Earth, so who was she to determine what was possible or not.

After storytime was over three of the men, two of which she recognized as her kidnappers, were let off at different stops and only the "gullwings" were left. They didn't try to explain anymore that night, though Rikku told her some things about Spira and its people, all of which just confused her more. They had set up one of the guest rooms for her and she was tired enough to go to bed immediately after dinner. But sitting in the dark waiting for sleep it finally hit her she was in a _different _world, as inconceivable as that was. She'd been kidnapped, had no way to return home, and without her kidnappers she'd be stranded in a strange world. She cried silently as she tried to make sense of all that had happened.

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A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. This is the first weekend I haven't been too tired to update. I'm also having trouble writing this part. I know where I want to go with the story, but getting there… Plus it's hard to know how to write somebody in this situation because nobody has personal experience with it.


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